T-Mobile Announces New Unlimited Data Plan

Among the major US carriers, it’s sure felt like the ship has sailed on unlimited data. While Sprint continued to be a hold-out, Verizon and AT&T customers who once enjoyed unlimited data have seen that option replaced by tiered plans, and struggle to retain their grandfathered unlimited options. If anything, we expected the situation to become even more restrictive and a worse value as time went on. That’s why it’s so surprising to hear today’s news from T-Mobile, which is announcing the creation of a new unlimited data option.

In the past, T-Mobile has offered data tiers with so much “4G” data (HSPA+) before speeds would be throttled back. The new plan does away with that limitation. It also ends up cheaper than most of the older tiers, at just $30 a month on a Classic plan or $20 for a Value plan.

The only downside we can see is that you can’t use this new unlimited tier for sharing data over a mobile hotspot. There’s no mention if that might be possible for an additional fee.

The new plan will be available starting September 5. We wonder if T-Mobile will end up keeping this new offering once it finally gets LTE off the ground.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bitsRead more about Stephen Schenck!